Great Choice for a Hotel in Sufers Paradise

100   Recommended
Room 2208 , One Bedroom Oceanview Sui...
December 31, 2016 by

 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended
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Crowne Plaza Sufers Paradise
 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended

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Room 2208

One Bedroom Oceanview Sui...

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
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Room
One Bedroom Oceanview Suite

You would think that a place like Sufers Paradise would be littered with chain hotel every direction. Surprisingly this is not the case. When making this reservation I wanted to make sure it was at an IHG property as I needed a couple of additional nights to take advantage of a promotion I was enrolled in. It was a bit hard to tell how nice (or not nice) the room were on their site. After only a few minutes I chose to book a standard ocean view room, hoping my Spire Ambassador status with IHG would secure me the suite I truly wanted which was a King Bed Premium Oceanview Spa Suite. This room was about 4 times the going rate for the basic room. Also, I should mention that I booked these two night using IHG points, so in reality no upgrade was warranted.  Will go into further detail in "Room" section". I'll also talk about the dining options which we took full advantage of during our stay in the "Dining" Section.

Check In

Before I made this reservation I knew which room I wanted to end up in. I phoned the hotel two days prior and inquired about occupancy. I was told the hotel was not busy at all. At this point I felt goo about receiving an upgrade so I booked the least expensive room available. The room I book was several hundred dollars less than the Oceanview Suite that I really wanted. I also used points to make this reservation which I knew would absolutely work against me but I figured I'd give it a go anyway. When I arrived at the hotel I handed the Front Dest Agent my passport and my Spire Elite card. I was about two hours early for the advertised check it. The Agent told me my room was ready to go and began to process my keys. I then mentioned that I would really like to be ungraded to the 1 Bedroom Premium Oceanview Suite if at all possible. She told me that because I used points for the reservation she would not be able to process an upgrade. Then she excused herself for a moment. Returning about 5 minutes later she told me that she had spoken to her Manager and that due to low occupancy they could extend an upgrade with a $40 per night supplement. I told her that would be more than acceptable and she processed my new Suite saving me hundreds of dollars in the process. When she was done processing my check in she had a bell man take my bags to my room while she explained what the hotel had to offer. After explaining the dining options in detail I asked her to secure me a reservation for two in Asian restaurant that evening. (One of the best meals of my life, more on that later) She also asked if I planned on joining them for breakfast each morning, as if I chose to add it to the room at check in it was almost half off. I went ahead and had her add breakfast for two each morning and was very happy with the decision. This was no skimpy breakfast. (More later)

From there she handed me the keys to my suite which was located in the new Gold Tower and off I went.

Room


I ended up in a One Bedroom Oceanview Suite on the top floor. The room was on a corner and had enormous windows looking out to the ocean. The room itself was very large and open. It had a full kitchen, dining area, living area with multiple seating surfaces and a large flat screen TV. The bedroom itself was about the size of a standard hotel room. It had a large king sized bed with a full wall of windows and another large flat screen TV. It also had an iPod dock on one of the night stands. Connected to the bedroom was a large bathroom with a separate shower and jetted bath tub for two. The bathroom also had large windows allowing you to look out over the ocean if you indulged in a bath. If I could critique one thing I would say the room itself is VERY CLOSE to needing to be updated. Don't get me wrong it was a very nice room but it was beginning to appear a bit dated. Would I stay in the same room again? Yes.

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Dining

For a Crowne Plaza I was extremely impressed with the on property dining options. They offered everything from a high end Asia restaurant, to an upscale wine and tapas room/lounge, in addition to a lobby bar and a fairly standard main dining room. The first night of the stay we ate at the Asian restaurant "SIFU". I can honestly say this meal was on of the best I have ever had anywhere in the world. It offered an extremely high end menu with over a dozen fresh fish / lobster dishes. Fresh as in the fish are swimming in tanks in the dining room. We chose to start with a small appetizer and then moved on to a whole Peeking Duck which is served 3 ways and carved table side. Now I've had duck many many times, in fact I love duck. Well this blew me away. I'm not sure what they do but if you like Peeking Duck you'll be in heaven. You should also plan on bringing your wallet as "SIFU" was FAR from in expensive. Dinner for two including on average bottle of wine ($45) a shared appetizer and the Peeking Duck was just about $350.

The following morning we had breakfast in the hotels main dining room. The breakfast spread was huge. They had everything you could want, and if they didn't have it out they would make it for you. The had cooks making omelets and eggs to order an addition to over a dozen buffet items. The also have a juicer with every type of fruit you could think of. (Point of advice... If you unfamiliar with the operation of a juicer simply walk away. I managed to cover a good portion of the dining area with fresh watermelon.)

For lunch that day we ate in the bar area located of the lobby. It offered a causal menu with many options. The prices in the bar area were also very reasonable. Was the lunch memorable? No, but I’d stop in again for the convince. 

This being out last night at the hotel we decided to eat at Balthazar the hotels wine and tapas dining area. This restaurant is unique in the was the serve wine. You pick your bottle from the 100's available and pay retail price for it. Then they charge you a $25 fee to open it and serve it to you. This is an amazing deal if you want $100+ bottle of wine that would normally cost more like $400 in a restaurant. We managed to go through a bottle of champagne and two bottle of wine. In addition to the countless samples the offered through out the meal. When it comes to the food they offer tapas by the plate or tasting menus consisting of 6, 7, or 9 courses. They tasting menus can be paired with wine if you like. Another great option here is the ability to purchase a bottle to take back to you room after dinner if you like. Over all it was a fun and unique dining experience. Good food with good wine and great service.

Location

Great location close to light rail and the ocean 

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